


Stay Again Today

by ChiaRoseKuro



Series: A World of One's Own [29]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Canon Reinterpretation, Drabble, Getting Together, M/M, Prompt Fic, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-10
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-08-13 15:41:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20176714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChiaRoseKuro/pseuds/ChiaRoseKuro
Summary: Kisame is warm, far warmer than Zabuza would’ve expected of him. He’s solid in a way that Zabuza’s almost forgotten about too, preoccupied as he is with training Haku up and taking just enough jobs to survive and fund the resistance effort back home. He’s never really cared for romance in any way, has had maybe a handful of one-night stands with whoever caught his interest since he became aware of hormones, but… this is different, somehow.You’re just pent up,Zabuza tries to tell himself,you’re both just tools with different purposes.(he may be far away from home, but even comfort can be found in the unlikeliest of places)





	Stay Again Today

**Author's Note:**

> If you weren't aware of how vague and utterly useless Kishimoto's timeline is for anything that doesn't involve lengthy canon arcs (and even then that's debatable), then attempting to research Kiri in general should handily fix that perception. Gripe aside about how I ended up winging Kisame's and Zabuza's defection from Kiri, Kisame's induction into the Akatsuki and Zabuza hiring himself and Haku out... if you're not into somewhat aggressive insults in lieu of proper courting as well as a man's lips on a man's lips, then this drabble is definitely not for you. It shouldn't be too hard to find your 'back' button and press it, if that's the case.
> 
> Special thanks to Eve's self-cover of _Tokyo Ghetto_ for providing the title and mood music in the two hours it took to write this, the prompt 'you got a package for me?' for pretty much failing to make it into the drabble, and all the lovely people on [Kat's](https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackkat) server for cheerfully murdering any hope I had of adhering to a canon timeline. You can't stick to canon if canon's never clear on it, after all, so! Have my hazy attempts at fixing (?) that then veering wildly off-course.

* * *

“God_damn_, Haku, what took you so long?” Zabuza grouses, scrubbing at his hair with something one could _generously_ call a towel as he steps out of the bathroom. He should’ve been back even _before_ he’d stepped into the shower, what with the grocer’s next door to their rundown motel—

But the person sitting on the couch isn’t small, slender Haku with a too-large bag of groceries.

“You still keep that bloodline waif with you?” the intruder asks genially, and Zabuza can’t help the way his hands twitch for Kubikiribōchō in the face of Kisame’s pointy smile.

He’s not exactly threatening, hunched as he is with Samehada wrapped and as quiet as it’ll ever get—but Zabuza remembers going head-to-head with Kisame, back in the day. Remembers trying to wield his tetchy sword and feeling the difference between its awareness and Kubikiribōchō’s, and…

“Thought you went rogue ages ago, Kisame,” Zabuza says to him, consciously relaxing every muscle in his body even as he strides towards his bed—and where Kubikiribōchō’s stashed away in its own wrappings. “Didn’t you join some sort of mercenary group?”

“I could say the same for you,” Kisame replies mildly. “Though, with that ice kid you’re carting around, I suppose it’s hard to find a group that’ll take in a mother hen like you.”

“_Watch it,_” Zabuza snarls at him, because they’re not the Seven Swordsman of the Hidden Mist any longer.

Not since Kisame slaughtered his division and disappeared into the night not long afterwards, not since Zabuza tried to beat some sense in Yagura and fucking _failed_—he had never been fully accepted, not when he was only another low-caste dog, but it had still been _his_ village. He still finds himself dreaming about those days on particularly dark nights, laughing at Mangetsu’s little brat of a brother as he’d tottered after all of them and declared his intention of taking their swords for himself, and…

With the reminder of what once was, without the reason he’d defected from the village he’d never betray in the room with him, it’s all too easy to grip the hilt of Kubikiribōchō and growl, “Get out of here if you know what’s good for you, _shark face_.”

There’s a moment when Kisame stares at him, cold calculation in his ice-blue pupils—but then the door unlocks with a noisy click and, when Haku steps into the room, there’s no sign of Kisame in the room.

“Zabuza-san?” Haku asks immediately, but Zabuza only shakes his head before uncurling his hand from his sword and tossing his towel onto the bed.

“The hell took you so long?” he asks Haku then—but he doesn’t bring up anything about the past few minutes and Haku, like the obedient tool he is, doesn’t either.  
  


* * *

  
But it’s not the last he sees of Kisame and, as he drags Haku along and lives from job to job, Zabuza finds himself looking into still waters more and more often. It’s not anything obvious—whispers of the Tailless Tailed Beast here, corpses bearing the distinct hollowed-scarred look of Samehada’s victims—but he starts spending a little more time on seals whenever he and Haku turn in for the night.

It’s only a temporary measure at best, nothing a few well-chosen strikes of Samehada wouldn’t be able to break, but it’s still not enough warning when Zabuza turns to wake Haku and there’s fingers brushing against his. Instinct causes him to whip around, hands flickering into the beginning of his Hiding in Mist technique—but then there’s a solid weight pressed against him and arms pinning his own against their chests.

“Do you _want_ the bounty hunters outside to raise the alarm?” is hissed into Zabuza’s ear, and…

Now that he’s not trying to murder Kisame to death—because it _is_ Kisame awkwardly hugging him for whatever godforsaken reason—Zabuza can sense the faint flickers of chakra from outside. He’s set up enough barriers and seals that he, Haku and now Kisame will be more or less concealed from the average sensor… but if the hunters happen to stumble onto their location?

“Fucking let _go_ of me,” Zabuza hisses right back, but Kisame doesn’t respond.

Hell, he doesn’t so much as _budge_, even when Zabuza flexes his arms and viciously steps onto his insole, and when he settles down enough to scowl and keep Haku from waking to whatever chaos this is—

Kisame is warm, far warmer than Zabuza would’ve expected of him. He’s solid in a way that Zabuza’s almost forgotten about too, preoccupied as he is with training Haku up and taking just enough jobs to survive and fund the resistance effort back home. He’s never really cared for romance in any way, has had maybe a handful of one-night stands with whoever caught his interest since he became aware of hormones, but… this is different, somehow.

_You’re just pent up_, Zabuza tries to tell himself, _you’re both just tools with different purposes_.

But even when all presence of the bounty hunters fade, Kisame doesn’t step back—and neither, to his surprise, does Zabuza himself. He tries to brush it off, tries to force out a brusque, “Go back to your mercenary group and their _world of truth_—”

Except there’s lips brushing against his and cool-warm breath puffing out, “I heard about what you were doing—and I thought, well, why not see where your truth leads our village first?”

_Our village,_ Kisame had said, in the same way Zabuza always thought about Kiri—but then lips seal over his and all Zabuza can do is grunt and kiss him back.

(even when Haku wakes, stills at the sight of Kisame and raises a cool brow in Zabuza’s direction—he only smirks weakly back and elbows Kisame’s side)

(it’s probably more dangerous than ever with Kisame around… but when they break up camp, Kisame smiles toothily at him, and Zabuza could almost _believe_ again)

**Author's Note:**

> For further author notes and other things related to this fic or series, feel free to check out my [blog](https://chiarosekuro.wordpress.com/). Alternately, potential prompts and other sorts of inspiration can be found on my [Tumblr](https://chroku-n.tumblr.com/) or [Twitter](https://twitter.com/chroku_n/) if that tickles your fancy instead - or, if you'd like your own shiny new oneshot, you can request one from me [here](https://chiarosekuro.wordpress.com/commissions/).


End file.
